


Indirectly Direct

by RookieSand



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Fluffy, One Shot, Pre-Time Skip, about kissing, marianne is very in love with hilda, soft, this will rot your teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RookieSand/pseuds/RookieSand
Summary: It's a hot day in the stables and Marianne is very thirsty.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 1
Kudos: 65





	Indirectly Direct

_Oh, goddess... Please grant me the knowledge to know what to do._

Marianne's hand shook as she held tightly to a small flask that had just been passed to her by Hilda. The two girls had been tasked with cleaning the stables that day—a job Marianne didn't mind in the slightest—and were taking a short break. The day was warm and shoveling manure in a mostly enclosed barn had left both girls drenched in sweat and thirsty.

They sat on upturned buckets side-by-side. Both were wearing their uniform issued work clothing—a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Marianne didn't particularly like the outfit as it showed off more of her than she cared for. But she wasn't minding the way it looked on Hilda. The clothing sat snuggly against Hilda's muscles, emphasizing her biceps and thick thighs perfectly. At least, it was perfect in Marianne's humble opinion. Marianne pulled her gaze away for what could only be the hundredth time since they had started. 

She focused her attention back on the flask. Hilda had taken a swig of it and then asked if Marianne was thirsty. When Marianne nodded to say that she was, Hilda passed it to her without a second thought—Hilda was kindhearted like that. Presumably, there was water in the flask. Hilda had seemed refreshed after her drink. Naturally, Marianne would as well. Of course, that would require taking a drink.

It was nothing more than a simple action, but Marianne was finding the mere thought of bringing the opening of the flask to her lips to be monumental. See, had this been a glass, Marianne would simply turn the glass to the other side and take her sip. The small opening of the flask left her made her only option to cover most of the opening with her mouth. The same opening that moments prior had been touched by Hilda's lips.

Essentially, she would have to put her lips onto a surface that Hilda's had already touched. But that was something so akin to kissing that Marianne was flustered by the thought. Could she just put her lips somewhere that Hilda's had been? Was she weird for thinking so intensely about it?

Marianne had become quite aware of women since she had turned thirteen or so. After being enrolled in the academy, she was always aware of Hilda. Her eyes drifted to her during class, training, dining, chores, and—probably the most unforgivable offense—the bathhouse if they found themselves there together. Marianne tried to avoid being alone with Hilda as much as possible lest her thoughts wander too far. Of course, the professor had a habit of pairing the girls for chores and asking them to eat dinner together. It was unfortunate because Marianne had never felt so undone by any particular girl before. Every little thing Hilda did was new and uncharted and set Marianne's heart racing.

And Marianne didn't know if these feelings were normal. Other girls at the monastery gossiped about liking boys, which guards they thought were cute, and sometimes mentioning getting kissed. When they expressed their attraction to men, Marianne couldn't help but equate her feelings towards Hilda. Her heart started to pound and her hands got sweaty. She was never good at talking but, around Hilda, it was even worse. And Marianne held in the back of her mind that, were the opportunity to arise, she would perhaps let Hilda kiss her. These were all sentiments her peers expressed but never towards other girls.

Marianne didn't know if these feelings were something to be ashamed of or not. There wasn't much gossip about girls like her around the monastery. As far as she knew, she was the only one. Naturally, she turned to the goddess asking for guidance. But the goddess had been just as silent as she was now to Marianne's plight of whether to drink from the flask or not.

"Hello? Marianne?" Hilda waved her hand in front of Marianne's face and Marianne startled, nearly falling off of the bucket. "Whoa, wow, you were totally off in another world." Hilda had stood up at some point and was standing in front of Marianne now.

Marianne blushed brightly and looked away.

"What were you thinking about? You've had a vacant look on your face for like at least a whole minute or so."

"Oh... it's nothing..."

Hilda gave her a knowing smirk. "That means it's something." She leaned in much too close and Marianne's heart nearly stopped. "But if you don't want to tell me that's alright too."

They held eye contact for a long time and Marianne was sure she was going to burst. Her heart was too sensitive for this. She was going to need to lie down, but they were only halfway done with chores. What would Hilda think if Marianne collapsed as they continued doing their chores? Manuela would rat her out for sure, knowing that nothing was wrong. That she had fainted from the mere thought of having a fake kiss with Hilda. The thought was mortifying.

"Um, if you aren't going to take a drink, though, I would like my flask back." Hilda pointed to the object in question.

"O-Oh... No, um, yes, I mean... I would like a drink."

"Okay... Well, as much as I hate to say it, we need to get back to work. We've already been here all morning and I'm getting sick of the smell." Hilda made a gagging gesture.

Marianne nodded once. She brought the cool metal close to her face. She could hear the water splashing inside, taunting her. There was a faint citrus smell coming from it. She parted her lips slightly and inched the flask closer and closer. She pulled it away again and held it out to Hilda, a deep feeling of defeat washing over her. 

Hilda took it, their fingers brushing. "Is something wrong with the water? I did put a tad bit too much lemon in it. It's quite potent, but I like it!"

Marianne nodded slowly. She thanked the goddess for Hilda having given her a convenient lie to go along with without having to say the words out loud. To be honest, Marianne actually liked lemon in her water. It always made her feel refreshed. Now the thought of it was just reminding her how much she needed something to drink. Her throat hurt.

Hilda was taking another drink from the flask. Marianne swallowed as she watched her. A bit of it had dribbled from the corner of Hilda's mouth and had made its way down to her chin. The painfully lecherous thought that she might like to use her mouth to clean the water from Hilda's chin flashed across Marianne's mind. She could only imagine that she was thinking such things because of the heat and lack of hydration. If she were in her right mind, she never would've thought anything as scandalous as that.

"Are you sure you don't want even just a bit?" Hilda offered again. She had wiped the drip of water from her chin and was looking at Marianne with bright and refreshed eyes. "You sure do look like you do."

"I..." Marianne murmured. 

Hilda leaned forward again. This time she brought the flask to Marianne's face and pushed it against her lips.

Marianne's heart skipped several beats, her body freezing as the metal, warm from Hilda's mouth, touched her lips. She felt like she couldn't breathe as she stared into the deep pink pools of Hilda's eyes. Her hand reached up to take the flask, although she knew she wasn't the one who was controlling her own movements. She couldn't think about anything outside of the metallic taste that had been pressed against her lips. She wished it had tasted like Hilda. At least then she would have felt vindicated in her hesitation to take a drink. She tipped the flask back and the cool, lemony water inside splashed into her mouth. 

It felt like a drug almost. Or like a healing spell had been cast on her. It was delicious and she guzzled down several large gulps before remembering that she was a proper lady. Proper ladies did not drink like they were at a late-night pub. She also remembered that this was not her flask and it would be rude to finish it off.

She pulled the flask away from her mouth and she was suddenly back in the stable. She could hear Hilda laughing; when she finally focused her eyes, Hilda was nearly in tears laughing at her. Marianne's ears turned red.

"Thank the goddess I gave you a drink!" Hilda said. "You were clearly thirsty."

Marianne's entire face had turned red now and she held the flask out without a word. Hilda took it once again and capped it.

"I didn't even think about it," she mused as she turned the flask over in her hand, "you put your lips where mine were. Does that mean that we indirectly kissed?"

Marianne felt like she had been pushed off of her bucket. Her heart sunk to the floor and she could barely look at Hilda. Was Hilda going to say that that was gross and they shouldn't have done that? That she couldn't even imagine kissing another girl? At the very least not a girl like Marianne. That much Marianne could believe.

"I suppose that's all well and good," Hilda said with a nod. "But, I think I'd also like to kiss you properly."

Marianne snapped her attention to Hilda. If the previous statement had felt like getting kicked off the bucket, this one was like getting kicked off the bucket by a horse. Did Hilda really mean that? Could they kiss so nonchalantly and it just be okay? Marianne wasn't sure, but it was Hilda who had offered.

"But not in here with the smelly horses. Maybe some other time. Shall we get back to work?" Hilda held her hand out to Marianne.

Marianne took it gingerly. Hilda's skin was warm and smooth. Certainly it wasn't suited for cleaning horse stables. She was a woman of noble birth after all. Marianne thought how she'd like to hold Hilda's hand longer. Maybe they didn't need to kiss if she could just feel Hilda's warmth on the palm of her hand. Of course, the moment was fleeting. Hilda let her go as soon as she pulled Marianne to her feet.

Hilda looked up at Marianne now standing gloomily over her. Marianne flicked her eyes away like a nervous horse. Thinking such intimate thoughts about Hilda was surely not something she should be doing. But Hilda was smiling at her and Marianne's heart fluttered once again.

"I think after this we should get something to eat together. The professor did ask if I wanted to eat with them later."

Marianne swallowed hard. "Are you sure you would like to eat with me?"

Hilda nodded. "Of course, Marianne. We're friends."

Marianne's throat felt tight. That was probably the nicest thing anyone at the academy had ever said to her. She nodded slowly. "A-Alright then."

Hilda's smile widened. She grabbed her pitchfork that she had leaned against one of the stalls. "Well, then we better finish this up!"

Marianne grabbed her pitchfork as well and got to work, following Hilda's lead. The lemon flavor was still prominent in her mouth. She wondered if Hilda's mouth tasted the same.


End file.
